


do i wanna know (if this feeling flows both ways)

by hearden



Series: trimberly week 2018 [1]
Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Trimberly Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-05-18 21:58:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14861031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hearden/pseuds/hearden
Summary: There's a girl who comes to the campus coffee shop Trini works at every day, and the first time they actually talk, somehow, Trini ends up dating her.(day one of trimberly week)





	do i wanna know (if this feeling flows both ways)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lyricsRpoems](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lyricsRpoems/gifts).



> for rosie: happy early birthday!!! i know i'm like super early but you know. TRIMBERLY WEEK.
> 
> the prompt was "coffee shop au, college au, or fake dating au" so i went and did ALL THREE you're so welcome
> 
> listen. it's still day 1 in california even tho i'm in texas so... this counts.
> 
> this is absolutely trimberly but there's also background billy/zack, jason/tommie, and aisha/kat
> 
>  **warnings:** mentions of cheating and racism

With roughly three thousand students running around the University of Angel Grove, Trini doesn't necessarily know everyone, but she sees a good number of the student body as she hands them their drink orders and checks them out at the register. UAG is small -- _so_ small -- that there's only the Java City she works at and the Cane's in the student center on campus. Everyone, her included, had freaked the hell out when the new Krispy Kreme finally opened up opposite Cane's after agonizing _months_ of construction. (Understandably, the line had gone out the door.)

Still, Trini has and (somewhat) knows her regulars.

There's Zack, of course, because he has to "support his best bro," which also means she visits him during his evening shifts at Krispy Kreme. Zack always gets a Cookies & Cream Javalanche and then eats the whipped cream on top with a spoon. For some reason.

Billy visits her, too, sometimes with Zack, sometimes not. He doesn't drink coffee because it makes him anxious, but he'll get a white hot chocolate and a chocolate chip cookie that he splits with Zack. It's cute. Not that she'd ever let Zack know that she finds anything related to him "cute".

Jason, who sits in the front of her government class, always comes with his girlfriend, Tommie. Trini vaguely knows both of them from high school. Most of AGHS only ever ends up going to AGCC or UAG, anyway. They probably recognize her -- Jason would for sure, at least -- but don't really ever say much to her; they just grab a Vanilla Bean Javalanche for Jason and a Mint Javalanche for Tommie and go on their way.

Speaking of most of AGHS ending up at UAG…

Trini knows Kimberly Hart. They had Biology together for a whole year back in high school and had _almost_ zero interactions with each other. Kim is usually one of Trini's regulars at the start of her shifts on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Sometimes she comes alone, sometimes she comes with her roommate, Kat. She always gets a Mocha Frappuccino and a bagel with strawberry cream cheese then hurries off, probably to some ridiculously early morning class.

Trini has never really seen Kim come to Java City with a guy until today, and she recognizes him immediately. Ty Fleming isn't the same hot shit as he was in high school -- not that Trini thought he was ever worth anything before -- but in college he seems to have lost some of that social pull. That or Trini has more space to avoid him. Probably a mix of both.

"If you could just listen for two seconds--" Ty is saying, and Trini is already remembering why she doesn't like him.

Kim holds up a finger to shush him as she comes up to the register; she forces a smile at Trini that Trini only barely returns. "Mocha frappe and a plain bagel with strawberry cream cheese, please."

Trini rings her up and prepares Kim's order, trying not to eavesdrop on their conversation but the machines aren't quite loud enough as Kim and Ty's voices get louder once they resume arguing. Snippets still make it to Trini's ears.

"I'm sorry Amanda broke up with you--" Kim.

"Yeah, well, I'm over it--" Ty.

"Oh, so, is that why--" Trini quickly turns her back to them when the blender finishes Kim's drink and abruptly falls silent, and Kim and Ty simultaneously realize how loud they're getting. "--getting into my pants again?" Kim finishes, bitingly.

Trini decides that she doesn't like Ty at all without knowing anything about him.

"Come on, Kim, it's not like _that--_ " Ty complains then reaches for Kim's arm. Kim has her bagel and a straw in her hands and Trini doesn't doubt that Kim can still throw a punch with her hands preoccupied because she'd heard about _that_ during the end of junior year, but still, she instinctively storms out from behind the counter.

"Hey!" she yells, catching both Kim and Ty's attention, "Don't touch her!"

Kim looks surprised. Ty just scowls at her. "Mind your own business," he sneers.

Later, for the rest of her six-hour shift, Trini won't be able to make sense of _why_ the first response that had come to her mind and out of her mouth had been:

"It _is_ my business. She's my girlfriend."

Kim's surprise quickly turns to disbelief, but she manages to look somewhat neutral by the time Ty takes his eyes off of Trini to stare at Kim.

" _What?_ " Ty waits for Kim to say something, and, honestly, Trini would be lying if she said she wasn't, too.

"Uh, yeah," Kim fumbles, taking a step closer to Trini and away from Ty, "She's my girlfriend."

Trini stops herself from letting out an incriminating sigh of relief.

"You never said anything," Ty states, scoffing.

"Because it's none of _your_ business," Kim counters, squaring her shoulders, and Trini can't help the little smirk that comes onto her face.

Ty crosses his arms, looking fed up, but a couple of students walking through the library doors and heading for Java City stop him from saying whatever it is Trini's sure he was about to say. "Whatever," he huffs and storms off.

Trini immediately feels awkward left alone with Kim.

"Uh, can I get my drink, please?" Kim asks, quietly, almost like an afterthought.

"Oh, right, sure." Trini clears her throat and goes back behind the counter. She can't stall because there's other students at the register, waiting in line, but she does take a second when handing Kim her drink to ask, "Are you okay?"

Kim takes her frappuccino, not really making eye contact. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine. Thanks…" She glances at Trini's name tag and reads it aloud, "Trini."

"Yeah, no problem," Trini sighs aloud as she watches Kim leave.

 

-

 

After her shift, Trini doesn't have class, making her Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays pretty chill. She swipes herself into her dorm after an agonizingly long wait for the elevator. Aisha, her roommate, is already lounging on the couch, so Trini unceremoniously puts her backpack on Aisha's chest as she heads to her wardrobe to change out of her work polo.

There's a thump as Aisha pushes Trini's backpack onto the floor. "How was work?" she asks.

Trini takes her black polo off and tosses it into her laundry hamper and then grabs a yellow flannel from its hanger and puts it on. "Uh, well…" she starts.

Aisha sits up, hearing something in Trini's tone, and raises her eyebrows, "What? What happened?"

"Uh…" Trini finishes buttoning up her shirt and shrugs, "Just something weird. So, you know Kimberly Hart?"

"Kat's roommate? Yeah."

Trini chuckles, "Wow, you said that without giggling. Congrats." She shucks her slacks off, tosses them into her hamper as well, and slips into a pair of jeans. Well, more stumbles into a pair of jeans while Aisha amusedly watches her struggle.

Aisha frowns and blushes, hiding her grin in a throw pillow. "Shut up," she mutters.

"You should ask her out," Trini states, flopping down on the couch next to her roommate.

"Maybe," Aisha says, hastily changing the subject, "Anyway, what about Kim?"

"She came by this morning with Ty Fleming."

Aisha furrows her brow, "That guy she used to date in high school? Eugh, I didn't like him."

"Nobody did," Trini snorts, "So, I think Ty just broke up with his girlfriend or something? It sounded like he was trying to get with Kim and she wasn't having it. He tried to grab her arm, so I… I stepped in."

"And then you punched his tooth out?" Aisha finishes, hopefully.

"Uh, _no._ "

"Kim punched his tooth out?"

" _No…_ can you just let me finish?"

Aisha rolls her eyes and sprawls on the couch, putting her legs up on the armrest and across Trini's lap. "Fine," she huffs, faking a pout.

"Anyway… I stepped in, and Ty told me to mind my business, so I just-- I don't know, I blurted out that I was Kim's girlfriend."

Trini ducks her head aside as Aisha abruptly bolts up and almost kicks her in the face, "Hey, watch it!"

"You _what?_ " Aisha exclaims.

"I just-- I said it, okay? Kim went along with it and Ty stormed off."

Aisha stares at her, expectantly. "And then?"

"And nothing," Trini shrugs, "I gave her her drink and then she left."

"You know what that sounds like?"

Trini suspiciously narrows her eyes at her roommate, "What?"

"Sounds like the start of a 'meet cute' fanfic."

Trini puts her hands on Aisha's thighs and shoves her off of the couch.

 

-

 

Her Tuesdays and Thursdays are packed with classes, so Trini drags herself the following Tuesday night into the campus Krispy Kreme with a loud groan. The student center is pretty quiet after seven, usually, since most of the commuters have gone home. She passes by Billy and gives him a half-salute. He's probably waiting for Zack to get off of his shift as usual.

"Yo," Zack nods at her as she comes up to the counter, "What can I get you tonight? A _girlfriend,_ maybe?" He chuckles and takes a quick step back as Trini tries to punch his arm over the countertop.

"I regret telling you about that," Trini grumbles, "Just gimme two glazed."

"Coming right up," Zack says, grinning, "You should hit up your new _girlfriend_ and come with me and Billy tonight. We're going to the arcade after I clock out."

Trini rolls her eyes, "She's not my girlfriend, I was just helping her out of a jerk situation. And I wouldn't bring _anyone_ I date around you."

"What about around Billy?"

"I'll never understand why an angel like him is with… you," Trini mutters as she pays for her donuts and snatches the bag from Zack.

"My irresistible charm," Zack smirks.

"You were ready to fistfight him the first time you met."

"He blew up, like, half of a mountain."

"It wasn't half."

"We _almost_ got arrested."

Trini squints at him, "I'm not sure if you're still upset that we almost did get arrested or that we actually didn't."

He grins widely.

She remembers that day too clearly but, then again, it'd been the first time she had really interacted with anyone else from school _outside_ of school since moving to Angel Grove. And Kim had been there. Jason and Tommie, too, however briefly.

Piling into Billy's minivan and running from mine security, though, hadn't been some kind of huge, earth-shattering bonding experience. Like how in _The Breakfast Club_ Brian had asked the others about what the future of their friendship was -- just one meaningful Saturday detention that would fizzle out come Monday or…

Trini had the answer to that. They all kinda fell back into their social groups after that. She _had_ become closer friends with Billy and Zack because of that (not to mention Billy and Zack had gotten together), but she and Kim hardly exchanged glances in Biology for the rest of the year. Jason and Tommie got together, but she never talked to them, either. They both got her vote for Prom King and Queen, however, and predictably won, and Jason got back into Angel Grove's good graces just in time for graduation.

"Whatever," Trini sighs, "Fine, I'll go to the arcade with you."

"Awesome." Zack holds his fist out, and Trini bumps it with hers after a moment of staring at him then walks off to sit with Billy.

 

-

 

It's not like there's three-player games at Wiggy Woggle Arcade, so Trini invites Aisha along after asking Billy and Zack, not like they would've said no. It's like a double date. Except that Trini and Aisha are two third wheels.

"Zack just wants me to go out," Trini grumbles as she presses the attack button on the console in rapid succession. On the screen of _Power Rangers: Shattered Grid,_ her Yellow Ranger avatar punches and kicks another enemy in the face. The controls on this game don't respond super fast or well, but it's the only game in the whole arcade where it's co-op _and_ has a shit ton of characters, allowing her and Aisha to both choose different Yellow Rangers, which Trini is thankful for. Her pride had taken a huge hit when she had generously given up Wonder Woman up to Aisha in that Marvel game a few rows down on their first roommate outing here. That _had_ cemented their friendship, but living together probably would've been hell if she had put her foot down instead.

"I can't argue with that," Aisha chuckles, "I want you to go out, too."

"And I want you to go out with Kat," Trini says, casually, and Aisha scowls.

"Can I hit you in here? Does it let me?" she asks then moves her avatar up to Trini's and jabs the attack button. All of her punches and kicks just pass right through. Trini laughs. "Whatever," Aisha mutters and reaches over, punching Trini in the shoulder.

Trini gasps, "Rude. Alright, fine."

"Fine what?"

The screen flashes as they clear the level of minions and a boss appears -- _the_ boss since they've reached the last level.

 _RANGER SLAYER_  
_Round 1_  
_Fight!_  


Trini doesn't touch her joystick to jump out of the way when the first wave of attacks come, and her avatar falls to the ground, health half depleted.

"What are you doing?" Aisha asks, frantically moving her avatar out of the way as another attack comes.

"Being petty," Trini says and walks away.

"TRINI!"

Shoving her hands into her pockets, she just laughs, loudly, and keeps walking. She passes Billy and Zack racing each other on a set of car games and stops at the end of the row, raising her eyebrows at a fortune telling machine. _Romantic Readings,_ the machine's title says. For one swipe of fifty cents, apparently, she can get a telling of her future love life -- 100% accuracy guaranteed. She squints but can't see the fine print. Accuracy her ass.

Still. Trini knows her game card doesn't have much left on it, and there aren't many other games that interest her _and_ cost less than a dollar. Sighing, Trini figures it's whatever and swipes her game card across the reader. A red button on the console labelled _Press for love!_ flashes. "Stupid," Trini mutters right before she gently presses her palm against it.

There's about twenty results that Trini doesn't bother reading since they're all the same scripted, vague bull. Nobody actually _believes_ this crap, anyway. Her eyes still follow the red blinking light as it zips in circles around the options, mesmerized like a cat.

She feels Aisha come up next to her. "Getting your future read?" Aisha teases.

"Yeah, I asked it if you're going to sink into a hole the next time Kat talks to you in Math."

Aisha huffs. "Why aren't you stopping it?"

"Watching the light is an art," Trini says.

"Oh, okay, so you keep getting '3 tickets' instead of '1000 tickets' on that _Wheel of Fortune_ game on purpose, then? How generous and humble of you."

Trini smacks the button and scowls at her roommate.

Aisha just smiles at her and nods at the game, "You're gonna be in _looove_ soon." She laughs as she walks away toward the ticket cashout room in the back.

Furrowing her brow, Trini glances at the machine. The red light blinks in place, flashing steadily, right next to the answer choice she'd landed on.

_You could meet the love of your life very soon!_

"That's so vague," Trini grumbles, "And dumb."

Nobody believes in this crap, anyway.

Right?

 

-

 

The next morning, Kim is back, a little earlier than Trini's used to. About a whole half an hour early, actually, and without Ty in tow.

Trini has a bad feeling about this from the moment she sees Kim.

"Hello," Trini says, the same as usual, "What can I get for you today?"

"I need to ask you for a favor," Kim says, quickly, not glancing at the menu on the wall. Not that she'd have to, probably.

Trini blinks and goes for the sarcastic, deadpan response. "Sorry, we're fresh out."

Kim narrows her eyes. "You guys have only been open for an hour," she retorts back, and Trini raises her eyebrows, almost impressed.

Almost.

"We don't get a new shipment until Friday. Come back then."

"It's about Ty," Kim says as if that's gonna change Trini's mind.

She sighs, "Look, sorry for saying what I said, I was just trying to get your boyfriend off of your case, but I'm not looking to get involved in someone else's drama."

"Not my boyfriend," Kim mutters.

"Fine, _ex-boyfriend._ " Trini rolls her eyes. "Whatever."

"Ty doesn't believe we're dating--" Kim continues, apparently not deterred by Trini's natural standoffishness.

"Because we're _not,_ " she interjects.

"--so I need to ask you to go out with me."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Go out with me," Kim repeats then sighs and rephrases that in a less firm, more gentle tone, "I'm sorry. That was rude. Will you please go out with me?"

Trini blinks. "Can't… you just… I don't know, block him? Ghost him? Whatever?"

Kim winces and shakes her head. "No, not really. We have a shit ton of mutual friends, and Kappa Alpha crashes our mixers all the time."

Trini has heard of Kappa Alpha, but she's never cared to take notice so she asks, anyway, to show how absolutely removed from this she is. Maybe if Kim figures out from her tone that she's not on board then she'll just… go block the piece of shit or something. "Kappa Alpha?"

Kim looks at her like she's grown another head. "I'm in Phi Lamb--" Kim explains, "Sorry. Sigma Phi Lambda. We're the Christian sorority on campus. Ty's in Kappa Alpha Order -- they kinda don't like us, but they just go wherever they want."

"Don't you guys have faculty advisors or some kind of national board to deal with that?" Trini asks, "That's harassment."

Kim scoffs. "Nobody cares about us. This university's too small to matter to Nationals."

"I don't see how any of this is my problem."

"Okay, look. Phi Lamb is having a bonfire tonight, and I _know_ the Kappa Alphas are gonna crash it. I need Ty to see you with me."

"Can't you say I'm, like, at my dorm sleeping? Because that's what I'll be doing."

"I'll pay you," Kim pleads.

"Are you bribing me?"

"Come on," Kim tries again, "We ran from mine security together. Doesn't that mean something?"

Trini pauses and stares at Kim. "You… remember that?"

"Yeah," she says, shrugging, "And we had, uh, Eng… Biology together senior year… right?"

"Engbiology," Trini repeats, and Kim sighs, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"I got it right at the end."

Trini looks at Kim for another long moment then relents. "Fine. When and where?"

 

-

 

She won't take Kim's money, even when Kim tries to press a fifty into her hand as they're driving up to the beach in Kim's Beemer. It's not about how much she can be paid off to help someone else. Trini doesn't know what _it_ is, actually. She's just along for the ride and… whatever whatever something something.

It's a Wednesday night, and Kim said there would be free burgers and hot dogs.

Trini tries not to look too much as Kim gets out of the car and goes to pop the trunk and get two lawn chairs she'd brought along out. The girl is dressed in a bright pink tank top and black shorts, vastly different from what Trini has seen her order coffee in. And that's saying something since she's seen Kim covered head to toe in a blanket, sweatshirt, and pajama pants after, presumably, a bag-inducing allnighter before.

Trini herself is in a yellow t-shirt and cutoff jeans. She knows she's not going to _willingly_ go into the water, anyway, but she has a swimsuit on underneath just in case. Not that if anyone -- especially these strangers -- threw her into the water would survive trying to get her to go in.

"You shouldn't look so awkward," Kim says, giving Trini a lawn chair to carry. It's a deep red, and when Trini peeks at the design on the back, it's an assortment of Greek letters that she doesn't know but, presumably, is meant to be Sigma Phi Lambda. "We're meant to be dating." She flashes Trini a smile.

Trini scowls. "Well, sorry I'm not all caught up on 'fake dating' etiquette. Once again, why couldn't you have asked your roommate or something?"

" _You're_ the one who came to my aid. Thanks, by the way."

"Mhm," Trini hums noncommittally.

They leave the parking lot and go out onto the beachfront, and Trini can easily spot where they're heading. A medium bonfire is down the stretch of the shore, a sizeable group of college students gathered around it, about forty or so people if she had to guess.

"Did you bring your own?" Kim asks as they walk.

Trini almost asks bring her own _what_ but remembers at the last minute. "You said there wasn't any beer 'cause you guys are dry or whatever."

"Yeah, well, I said you _could_ bring your own if you really wanted. Just, like, hide it. It's our mixer with Bucks, but it's kinda open to everyone so we can't _really_ control who brings what -- just if we have any."

"Remind me which one is Bucks again," Trini says, even though she doesn't care.

"Beta Upsilon Chi. They're like our brother frat. Sorta. Also Christian."

"Two Christian frats walk into a bar."

"Very funny." Trini catches Kim smiling despite her exasperated tone, though.

When they approach the bonfire, Kim introduces Trini to a bunch of sorority girls that she can't quite remember all the names of. She ends up only remembering the ones who interact with her the most, the ones she ends up standing near and chatting with when Kim walks off to help with the grilling.

"So," a girl in a white shirt with sky blue shorts says, sizing her up with crossed arms, "How'd you and Kim meet? She didn't say anything to me about having a _girlfriend._ " She says _girlfriend_ in a slightly childish tone and sticks her tongue out when she does so.

Trini raises her eyebrows. She thinks the girl's name is Tori.

The brunette beside Tori rolls her eyes and smacks her in the arm. "Babe, stop," she pouts, "Kim didn't bring her new girlfriend here to get…" She pauses, realizing something, then smiles, " _Grilled._ "

Tori groans, loudly.

"That was really bad," Trini mutters.

"I _know,_ " the brunette exclaims, proudly.

"You'll have to excuse Kira," Tori says, "She's a handful."

"You're the one trying to vet Kim's girlfriend!" Kira protests.

Tori rolls her eyes and looks at Trini. "Look, she just hasn't had the best history, so…"

"Oh, I know," Trini says, looking away to hide the heat she feels rising in her cheeks, "I've met Ty."

Kira makes gagging sound into her fist. "If I could punch a guy," she says, "I wouldn't be able to choose between Ty, any of his frat brothers, or the founder of KA."

"You'd be punching a Confederate commander," Tori says, "Who's already dead."

"I'll dig up Robert E. Lee just to punch his skeleton."

Trini raises her eyebrows. "Ty's frat was founded by Robert E. Lee?"

"Yeah," Tori confirms, "It's not too bad here because UAG's so small, but I've heard other chapters are super racist. Especially in the South."

"It's not very moral," Kira says, "But some of us kinda have a lowkey bet on how long it's gonna take KA to get suspended here. Sometimes, people call them Kappa Kappa--"

"I get the point," Trini interjects then glances at Kim, "And Kim's been dating that piece of shit since high school. Wild."

Kira shrugs. "We told her he was bad news when he pledged KA, like, even if _this_ chapter isn't the literal embodiment of white supremacy, they're still not doing anything to change things all over the country with their other chapters. I mean. Their website has a black guy on the main promotional page, so they're _totally_ not racist, right?"

"Yeah, and Ty dated Kim so _he's_ not racist," Trini sarcastically mutters.

"I like her already," Kira tells Tori, and Tori shushes her.

 

-

 

The thing is that Ty -- or any Kappa Alphas for that matter -- don't show up to Phi Lamb's mixer with Beta Upsilon Chi.

Trini's head has Greek letters running through it for the rest of the night when she heads home to her dorm. The burgers had actually been pretty good, but they were offset by the fact that she and Kim had _had_ to put their lawn chairs next to each other. Kim had touched her the whole night, but it had been light contact. Trini had said she would let Kim know if she wasn't okay with the amount of contact -- they'd even agreed on _Biology_ as a safe word -- but as the night went on, Trini found that she didn't really care that it was all an act. Kim dissolving into giggles at a joke Kira made and holding onto Trini's arm as she almost fell out of her chair… it meant something.

"Shit," Trini mutters as she walks into her dorm room, catching Aisha's attention away from the book she's reading.

"What?"

"I think I like Kim."

 

-

 

They hadn't talked about the terms of their "relationship". At all. Trini just figured that, once Ty stopped bothering Kim or whatever, they'd "break up" and it would be over with.

That absolutely did not happen.

What _did_ happen was that it kept going.

Kim would drop by Java City and tell Trini about things that were going on -- Phi Lamb mixers or other events and outings she had with her friends, always school-related and always things that she was afraid Ty would show up to.

Kim formally introduced her to Jason and Tommie who she was friends with (naturally), and Tommie turned out to be one of her sorority sisters who had joined after leaving Beta Upsilon Chi.

Never once did they actually run _into_ Ty at these mixers and parties and fundraisers, but Trini kept tagging along, anyway. Kim's sorority sisters were nothing but supportive of, apparently, the first healthy relationship they'd seen her in since college, so there was also that. Trini tried her best not to think about letting down Kira and Tori and Amanda and Harper and Tommie when she and Kim would eventually break up.

All of it piled up, though. Things that Kim was afraid Ty would be at turned into Kira and Tori inviting her and Kim out for a double date at a cafe or whatever. They kept the PDA to an absolute minimum since Trini _wasn't_ going to try and kiss a girl she liked _and_ wasn't even dating. Aisha had whined at night about _so_ many fanfics she'd read that ended up with that rock and hard place.

Kim, however, had this thing she did where she would hold Trini's hand and absently kiss her knuckles.

The holding hands thing is fine.

Totally fine.

Maybe Billy frowns at it a little whenever they all hang out and Zack wiggles his eyebrows at her, but it's _fine._

The knuckles thing? Totally not.

It doesn't make her _bad_ uncomfortable, so Trini doesn't use her safe word, but like… the girl she likes… is kissing her knuckles… in public.

It's worth mentioning.

So, one night, when the eight of them -- her, Aisha, Kim, Kat, Billy, Zack, Jason, and Tommie -- have hogged a table all to themselves in the library to study for midterms, Trini brings it up after Kim loudly groans in frustration at the long as hell article she's reading and reaches over, grabbing Trini's hand and starting the routine of kissing each one of her knuckles to calm down.

Trini yanks her hand away the moment Kim's lips touch her first knuckle, leaving Kim confused.

"Trini? What's wrong?"

The other six people at the table look up, too, so Trini can't get out of this one without witnesses. At least Aisha, Billy, and Zack _already_ know. She's not sure if Kat knows and hasn't talked to her enough to subtly gauge if Kim told her, but Jason and Tommie definitely don't know.

"What's your deal?" Trini asks, ripping off the metaphorical bandaid, "How much longer are we gonna keep up this fake BS?"

"Trini--" Kim starts.

"Look," Trini says, curtly, not caring that she can feel Aisha in the seat on her other side squirming anxiously, "I… I like you, and I'm done with this pretend stuff. I want the real thing, and I'm not gonna sit around getting led on for the sake of a lie when we haven't seen your ex-douche in, like, _weeks._ "

"I--" Kim furrows her brow and glances around at the table then back at Trini, "This-- Trini, this _is_ the real thing."

Trini raises her eyebrows, incredulously. "Oh, yeah? I don't remember us talking it over, hm."

"I mean-- okay, fair, yeah," Kim falters, "But… do you really think we would've gone, like, almost everywhere in public if it wasn't real?"

"You said we had to pretend like it was the real thing," Trini says, clenching her jaw a little, "And then it just _spiraled_ out of control and then I started liking you, so, _no,_ I really did think you were still pretending because you didn't tell me _otherwise._ "

Kim pauses, taking in Trini's words, then lets out a sigh. "Uh, well, yeah. Talking about things isn't… isn't my strong suit. I'm sorry. But I… I like you, too. I'm sorry. Do you think we could… start over and go on a _real_ real date?"

Trini stares at her for a long moment then deadpans, "Sure, but you owe me a fifty."

Kim gasps, offended, "You said you didn't want my money!"

"That was _before_ I started liking you. I think I'm owed something." She pretend to scowl for a second then smiles at Kim, her body tingling.

Kim blushes and shakes her head, turning away out of embarrassment.

"Wait…" Jason starts, glancing between Trini and Kim, "So… you guys _haven't_ been dating this whole time?"

Tommie puts her head into her hands and sighs. "Tori's gonna _kill_ you, Kim."

Kim waves a hand and ignores her. "She'll get over it."

Next to Trini, Aisha groans, " _Finally._ You guys were really starting to get on my nerves with this hot mess of a fanfic."

Trini settles back in her seat and rolls her eyes. "Like you're one to talk," she mutters, offhandedly, "You can't even ask Kat out." The moment she realizes what just slipped out, she clamps a hand over her mouth. "Oh, shit."

Kat, at the end of the table, looks up from highlighting something in her textbook. "What?"

Aisha frantically looks at Trini and punches her in the arm. "Good going!" She turns back to Kat. "Haha, she's just joking…"

"You want to ask me out?" Kat questions, putting her highlighter down.

"Uh…"

"But she hasn't," Trini says, figuring there's no way she could make this any worse than it already was, "Because she says you'll say no."

"Yes," Kat says without missing a beat.

" _See?_ " Aisha hisses at Trini, turning her head away from Kat, and Trini can see that her hands are shaking. Shit. "Look what you did."

"No-- Aisha," Kat continues, reaching across the table to tap at Aisha's book and get her attention, "I meant I'd say yes."

"Oh. What?"

On Trini's other side, Kim bursts into giggles.

"God, you guys are so useless," Tommie mutters, rolling her eyes.

Zack grins, "Guess _several_ congratulations are in order, then." He holds up his hand, and Billy, after a moment of sighing, high fives him.

Trini shakes her head and looks at Kim.

Kim reaches over, taking her hand, and is about to bring it up to kiss Trini's knuckles for _real_ this time, but Trini pulls her hand away at the last moment.

"Oh, what _now?_ " Kim groans.

"This," Trini says and pulls Kim in by the collar of her jacket and kisses her.

**Author's Note:**

> title from Do I Wanna Know? - Beau + Luci (cover)
> 
> halfway thru this turned into a "how can i project my college experience onto this fic" lmao the three greek orgs mentioned do exist and all three of them are at my school (well one Was at my school and got suspended, guess which one) and i'm actually in one of them. which means if someone i know or goes to my school reads this fic, they'll know someone on campus writes power rangers fanfic rip
> 
> my fancasts for reboot tommie, aisha, and kat can be found [here](https://torihansons.tumblr.com/post/168400456661/power-rangers-cinematic-universe-fancast-tanaya)


End file.
